


A Lesson in Sleep

by Levis_turtles



Series: Billdip Drabbles (the most original title!!!) [9]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 17:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6997429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Levis_turtles/pseuds/Levis_turtles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bill doesn't know how sleep works</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lesson in Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> just a little thing i wrote when i forgot how sleep works

Bill shifted on his makeshift bed – a pile of pillows arranged uncomfortably on Dipper Pines’ bedroom floor. The splinters sticking out of the wooden floorboards stabbed him in the back, and the pain was less than pleasant when he was in his own body rather than someone else’s. There was also the small matter that, despite being a demon of nightmares, he had never slept, and wasn’t quite sure how to do it. 

He had been watching Dipper for quite a while now. The boy had pulled his blanket up to his chin – Bill had done the same, just in case that was an important part of the ritual. Dipper had then bid Bill a good night, closed his eyes, and had yet to move since.

But surely that couldn’t be it…

Bill shifted again, poking Dipper in the face to check that he was awake. Dipper’s eyes fluttered open, and Bill was angry for a moment that he had become so little a threat that a powerless human was comfortable enough to sleep in his presence. But then Dipper propped himself up on an elbow and flicked the switch of his lamp, flooding the room in dim orange light. “You okay?” He asked, and whatever fury that was within Bill drained away.

The demon cleared the lump in his throat. “So,” he began, and for the first time in a long time, he had no idea what to say next. It had been millennia since he’d needed to ask a question, and he was surprised that there was still a small hole in his pride that would allow him to come this far. “Do I just have to lie here with my eyes closed until I loose consciousness?”

Dipper sighed, as if relieved that that was all Bill wanted. Dipper had been wary of the demon at first, but there was just something about the way his human body made Bill more, well, _human_. Bill hadn’t known that shivering meant he was cold, that the human body was covered in tiny hairs, that the cat curled up in the living room was not, in fact, going to kill him. The demon hadn’t known that flooring felt different under his feet when he took his shoes off, hadn’t known that if he got food on his hand, it would dry up and get all gross. It was kind of hard for Dipper to see Bill as a threat after that.

Nodding, the human said a simple, “yes,” before reaching towards the light switch at the side of his bed.

“Wait!” Bill caught hold of Dipper’s wrist, halting its procession to the switch. “What if something bad happens?” The demon asked. He released his grip on Dipper, but his wavering eyes held on to the human’s. “I don’t have anything to protect myself in this body. Anything could happen!”

Dipper resisted the urge to roll his eyes – it wasn’t Bill’s fault that- actually, it was Bill’s fault that he was in this mess. But Dipper couldn’t blame him for being scared. He could imagine that if he had lost everything that made his life _his life_ , he’d be pretty freaked out too. Sighing through his nose, Dipper cracked a tiny smile. “Would it make you feel any better if you got in with me?”

Bill didn’t hesitate before saying his, “yes.” He rolled away from his lumpy pillow mattress and, clutching his blanket around his shoulders like his last lifeline, pulled himself up from the ground. The air was cold against his skin, and he made an effort to cover every last patch of revealed flesh with the blanket.

Dipper choked on his next words. He looked up at Bill, eyes wide as the demon surveyed the way Dipper was spread out on his bed, searching for the simplest point of access. “W-what?” Dipper finally managed to stutter, sitting up in his bed to stop the demon from climbing on to it. Bill caught Dipper’s eye then, and the sheen over those strangely human pupils had Dipper sighing in defeat. “Seriously?”

Bill nodded, “Mm hm.” He swung a leg over Dipper and half fell, half threw himself on to the bed. He scrambled a little awkwardly to get himself under the covers, but once he was in, he found himself humming happily. It was a lot warmer here than on the floor, and while the mattress was far from a luxury, it was a step up from the splintered floorboards and hard cushions.

Dipper frowned down at the demon. “I’m not comfortable with this.” 

Bill sniggered. “You shouldn’t have offered if you couldn’t deliver, Pine Tree.” He shuffled closer to the warmth, which just so happened to be the Dipper, and as his frozen limbs collided with hot skin, there was a twitch of his lips that was far too close to a smile for Dipper’s liking.

With another sigh – Dipper hadn’t really stopped sighing since Bill had crashed into his life – the human gave in and settled back down in his bed. And if he made an effort to keep as close to Bill as possible, to keep the demon warm through the night, he told himself it was only to spare him the hassle of having to deal with Bill if he caught a cold.


End file.
